Sunset in Silvana (Da'ark Nocturne Book 1)

by Paul Sims

  Light dawned in Anoushka’s face. “From what he looked like. So ‘Slimmest’ isn’t a name…”

  “…it’s a description. Yes. I don’t know her true name – at least not at the moment, and I suspect that I wouldn’t, even if I had all my memories back. Eranians are careful about names. By the way, we’d better keep her away from RD as much as possible. You know how he feels about cats – and about psionics – and I want to avoid a serious confrontation between him and Slimmest’s mistress at all costs. I don’t think we can afford to lose him – yet.”

  Anoushka laughed, and frowned when Tanya didn’t reciprocate. “You’re serious.”

  “Deathly.”

  Once the newcomer was satisfied, she permitted Tanya to pick her up and introduce her to the rest of the party. She purred and nuzzled most of them and accepted their attentions in return, but, as Tanya suspected, RD simply grimaced and avoided all contact. “That animal is your responsibility,” he told her. “Just keep it out of my way.” He stamped off, muttering under his breath.

  Tanya set the cat down and walked to the mouth of the cave, where she peered through the camouflage net to view the valley beneath. She drew in her breath, shook her head slightly and went to look for RD, whom she found sitting by himself in the cab of the ATV.

  “It’s a pretty big village down there – it’s almost a town.”

  “Yes,” he said. “The top of the valley’s pretty wild, so we’re unlikely to have any visitors, but if we try to move on before nightfall, we’ll be seen. We’ll have to hole up here, and hope none of the villagers are insomniacs.”

  “One of us should make a scouting expedition.”

  “And who would you suggest?” His eyes glinted in the darkness.

  “Me.”

  “You are the best qualified,” he replied grudgingly, “but I don’t think you ought to go on your own.”

  “Why not?” she asked. “I can move more quickly by myself, and it’s easier for one person to conceal themselves than for two.”

  “No, I won’t have you going by yourself – Iain will go with you.”

  She opened her mouth to protest, but realised it was no use arguing – RD was, at least for the moment, in charge – so she closed it again and went to find her designated partner.

  “We’ll need a cover story, in case we’re spotted,” Iain said. “I know – when I was rooting in the back of our stolen vehicle, I found several sets of overalls. If we wear those, we could claim that we belong to a logging team that’s working up country, and we’ve been sent to the village for supplies.”

  It seemed as good a plan as any, so they changed into their costumes and set out. Tanya asked Slimmest to scout ahead of them and give her a preview ‘picture’ of the layout of the settlement. It was, in fact, half village, half way-station, centred around a large hall which obviously functioned as a meeting place and held the office of the local security officer. Apart from several houses, there was an inn and a general store, plus a trading post which clearly dealt with hunters, prospectors and loggers. The latter had a large tank in a yard at the back, which appeared to contain diesel fuel.

  As they neared the village, Bartes contacted Tanya from the cave. :Hide yourselves,: he sent, :We can hear vehicles coming.:

  : From where?:

  :The plateau. No more ‘talking’ – they might have ‘sniffers’ aboard.:

  Tanya informed Iain, and they found some heavy undergrowth, lay down flat within it and waited. Almost immediately, a couple of hoverbikes were outlined against the sky next to the waterfall. They halted and both riders began to frantically wave their arms as a large troop carrier shot between them and over the edge of the cliff. In a magnificent feat of control, the vehicle’s driver managed to use its hover fans to keep it level. There was, however, a sickening crunch as it met the floor of the valley. It bounced several times like a stone skipping across a pond and shuddered to a halt about twenty yards from where Iain and Tanya were hiding.

  The riders of the hoverbikes drove along the edge of the cliff until they reached the path the fugitives had taken down into the valley. They rode their vehicles down it and, to Tanya’s chagrin, one of them turned off and continued along the ledge towards where the others were hiding. She held her breath as he approached the camouflage net, but relaxed as he dismounted and faced the cliff wall to relieve himself.

  Meanwhile, amidst a lot of vehemence and the shouting of obscenities, the troops in the vehicle had vacated it and were jacking it up so that the damage could be inspected. While the transporter’s mechanic checked it over, the lieutenant in charge addressed a soldier who must have been the navigator. “Were you asleep, Private? The cliff is clearly marked.” He waved a large map under the navigator’s nose.

  “No, sir!” The navigator stood at attention, but was shaking visibly. “And it’s Sergeant, sir.”

  “Not any more, Private. It was only the driving of Sergeant Karlovitch that saved our lives.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Another trooper, who was – for the moment – still wearing corporal’s stripes, saluted smartly.

  “Now take care of this Private, Sergeant, and make sure he doesn’t make any more mistakes.” He thrust the map into the navigator’s quivering hands.

  “Yes, sir!” The newly-promoted Sergeant gave his ex-superior an evil smirk. Tanya could see that their relationship had a history, and had just taken a turn for the worse as far as the new Private was concerned.

  The Lieutenant strode over to the vehicle and addressed the mechanic’s legs. “What’s the damage, Corporal?” he asked.

  The mechanic looked out from under the craft’s skirt. “Not too bad, considering, sir. She’s a sturdy old lady, aren’t you, girl?” He slapped the side of the vehicle in an affectionate manner. “I’ll have to unship one of the fans and straighten several blades, and replace a couple of bearings, but we’ll be under way in a couple of hours – three at the most.”

  “Good – be as quick as you can, please.” He strode over to where another trooper was fiddling with a radio. “How are you doing, Sparks?”

  “The radio’s fine, sir. I’ve informed HQ of our situation, as you ordered.”

  “Warn them that we won’t reach Kije in time to join the President’s bodyguard, will you?” He blew out his cheeks. “I just hope nothing happens.”

  As Tanya lay in her place of concealment, she became aware of a vibration at her side. She slowly moved her head so that she could see the purring cat and raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

  :Lucky for them,: the cat sent.

  :What do you mean?: Tanya asked, but the animal just gave her a smug look which said plainly, ‘Wait and see’. Tanya shrugged slightly and gently stroked the cat, which served to increase the reverberation.

  “Right,” the Lieutenant said. “All those not involved in fixing the vehicle form up and follow me – we’ve got a job to do.”

  He led his squad down into the village square. The accident had not gone unnoticed, and most of the village had turned out to greet them, including a rather overweight security sergeant, who was red-faced and flustered. The squad checked everyone’s papers, including the sergeant’s. They went from building to building, ordering any occupants out and checking their papers too. Tanya could guess what – or rather who – they were after, and her suspicions were confirmed when each of the villagers was checked for the nose-filters that would have given any one of the fugitives away. As each person’s identity was confirmed, they were directed into the village hall.

  Once everyone had been checked, the Lieutenant and two of his men entered the hall while the rest of the detail searched the other buildings. From the time they took, the check must have been pretty thorough. They still hadn’t finished by the time the Lieutenant and his team left the hall about an hour later.

  All this had taken some time, and Tanya was beginning to cramp up, but as her left thigh began to spasm, she became aware that Slimmest had stretched out alongside it, purring i
ntensely. Her muscles relaxed and a feeling of mild euphoria seeped over her.

  When the search was complete, the troops reassembled and returned to their vehicle, where they sat around waiting until the mechanic deemed it was ready to depart. There was a slightly unhealthy whine from the hovercraft’s engine when it was started, but it managed to raise itself uncertainly on its skirts and limp away down the valley, escorted by the hoverbikes.

  “I think we should go back now,” Tanya whispered to Iain, as soon as it was out of sight, but he shook his head.

  “We need better intel,” he told her. “You go back – I’ll take it from here.”

  “Be careful – if you get caught, we’ll all be for it.”

  “Trust me.”

  A thought struck her. “I do. You know, you seem different now you’re yourself again. The rest of us have changed a little, but you seem to have a completely new personality. A bit more serious, but definitely an improvement.”

  “I feel different,” he said pensively, “almost as if ‘Ivan’ wasn’t the real me.”

  “It wasn’t,” she said. “That was one of the things I discovered back at the Medical Centre. You were given a different drug to the rest of us – Methaqualude. It affected your personality.”

  “Hmm… That makes sense. I remember this medical I had some years back – they warned me at the time that I was allergic to most hypnotic drugs. Perhaps the security guys felt they had no choice. Anyway, I feel like myself now – not that I didn’t before… Now, give me any money you’re carrying. I might need it.”

  Tanya raised an eyebrow, but he just gave her a crooked smile. She passed him all the cash she had on her, and turned to crawl back up the slope.

  :Keep an eye – and your nose – out for anything we can use to supplement our supplies,: she sent to Slimmest as they made their way slowly and carefully back towards the cave.

  They slithered up the slope, but had only found a few wild asterberries and a handful of sage-grass by the time they neared the path up the cliff. Tanya had resigned herself to finding nothing really useful when Slimmest sent :There’s something in here.:

  Tanya looked around and saw the cat sitting by a large thicket. :More fruit? Or perhaps some edible roots?: she asked.

  :No,: the cat sent. :Fresh meat – very tasty.:

  :I’ll go round to the other side so I’m hidden from the village,: Tanya told her. :You chase it out that way and I’ll try to catch it.: She crept around the thicket, trying not to disturb their prey, detecting the pungent scent of ammonia as she did so.

  Expecting something the size of a squirrel, or at the most, a small goat, she knelt and drew her knife as she heard a rustling in the undergrowth. The bushes parted. She raised her knife – and was confronted by a massive, disgruntled boar with red eyes and long curved tusks.

  For what seemed an age, they watched each other. Dammit, she thought, I’m no match for that thing. She moved her free hand slowly toward her holster.

  The hog pawed the ground, and shook its snout.

  Perhaps I can get it to leave me alone. Tanya sent out waves of calming thought, but the boar appeared no more gruntled than before. She sighed. Someone has to pay for disturbing its ablutions – and I’ve been elected.

  The animal threw back its head, gave a loud squeal, and launched itself at Tanya.

  Had she not been psionically talented, Tanya would have been badly gored and trampled. As it was, she did the only thing she could: she blurred. The boar seemed to slow almost to a standstill as she drew her pistol and fired three times in quick succession. The bullets flew lazily between those piggy little eyes and buried themselves in the animal’s brain.

  Wild boars, though, are easier to kill than to stop, and this one was too stupid to realise that it was already dead. On it came.

  Tanya tried to dive out of its way, but, despite her inhuman speed, getting her body to move took just too long, and, as the carcase passed her, its right tusk opened a large gash in her thigh. Its final revenge complete, the boar collapsed in the dust and lay still.

  As Tanya cursed under her breath and tried to stem the bleeding, Slimmest wandered up and looked at her with wide, innocent eyes. :My mistress would have brain-blasted the brute...: she began, with a degree of self-satisfaction.

  “Your mistress isn’t here,” Tanya said aloud through gritted teeth.

  The cat gave a pitying look, and Tanya became aware of a glow beneath her furry chin.

  “Thank you, little sister,” Tanya said as the agony abated, “but please, next time, warn me.”

  :I shall have to make allowances,: the cat sent as she sat down next to Tanya.

  Something suddenly struck Tanya. :You healed my wrist, didn’t you?:

  :In a way. I do have a talent for healing, but not as good as yours, so I added yours to mine.:

  :You could do that? Despite the drug?:

  :The drug doesn’t remove your talents – it just stops you using them. And I could only do it because we’ve done that sort of thing together before.:

  :We have? When?:

  :You’ll remember in time. Now, shall I go and get help?:

  :Yes, please. I’ll need aid with skinning this carcass, if nothing else. ‘Talk’ to Bartes, and ask him to bring my medical kit, and something to put the meat in, but tell him to be careful, and to wait until he’s certain no-one’s going to come and investigate. I did make rather a lot of noise.:

  :As you wish.: The cat got up and trotted back towards the hidden camp.

  While Tanya waited in trepidation, hoping that her gunshots hadn’t drawn anyone’s attention, she cut away the ruined leg of her overalls and tore it into two strips. She folded one into a pad and bound it over her wound with the other. It seemed that the villagers were still too stirred up by their recent visitors to show any curiosity about the noise she’d made, and she remained undisturbed.

  It was some time before Slimmest returned with Bartes in tow. “What have you been doing?” he asked as he set Tanya’s medical kit down beside her.

  “I thought we needed some fresh meat,” she replied.

  “It seems like this beast had the same idea,” he said wryly, indicating the dead porker. “Do you need any help with your wound?”

  Tanya shook her head. “The antibiotic I just injected should take care of any possible infections, and this stimulant will keep me going for now. Once I’ve put a clean pad over the gash, we can butcher this damned hog.”

  They hacked and slashed at the dead animal’s body – Tanya with perhaps slightly more violence than was absolutely necessary – and soon filled the containers that Bartes had brought.

  “What shall we do with the rest of it?” Bartes asked. “We’ve got all we can use.”

  “I’ll take the tusks,” Tanya said. “They should prove useful for barter. We’ll have to bury the rest to conceal that we’ve been here.”

  “We could always just hide it into the thicket. I don’t think the locals come up here that often – at least I don’t see any signs of it – or of any scavengers that might give the game away. I doubt anyone will find the carcase before we’re long gone.”

  “You’re right,” she conceded, and helped him push the remains deep into the scrub and erase the signs of their presence.

  The wound was still painful, so Bartes put Tanya’s arm around his shoulders and helped her limp back to their hiding place. Anoushka was waiting anxiously just inside the net, and helped Tanya to sit down against the cave wall. As she settled herself, she looked around: Bartes and Anoushka both seemed sympathetic, but Joseph’s look was amused, and RD’s smirk was frankly insulting. When the latter opened his mouth to comment, she froze him with a look. “Don’t – say – a – word,” she told him. “And, yes, it does bloody hurt.”

  Once the pain had subsided to a dull throb, Anoushka helped her change out of her ruined overalls. A brief check of her thigh revealed that – mainly thanks to Slimmest – the bleeding had largely stopped, so she re-dr
essed the wound yet again, put on fresh clothes and re-joined the rest of the party.

  Chapter 21

  Iain waited until the furore had died down before walking into the village as if he had business being there. He received a few curious looks as he made his way to the tavern, but with an affectation of nonchalance he pushed open the door and strode straight in. The atmosphere was agitated when he entered, but the animated chatter dwindled to silence as he walked up to the bar.

  It was similar to so many working bars on so many planets: smoky, with grimy windows and indistinct pictures on the wall, including a map of Silvana. Iain noted with interest that the flag on the corner of the map was that of the Telphanian province.

  “What’s wrong, Comrades?” he asked. “Never seen a logger before?”

  “Sorry, my friend,” the barman said. “We’ve just had a surprise visit that’s left us all a mite on edge.” Indeed, at that point several of the patrons jumped slightly at a distant but distinctive sound.

  Hell’s teeth, Iain thought, that was a pistol. I hope nothing’s gone wrong. His mind raced. Whatever’s happened, I need to distract everyone here from investigating. “I saw them leave as I was hiking down the valley,” he said loudly. “They looked loaded for bear.”

  There was a mutter of agreement. “We haven’t seen so many of those thugs – sorry, protectors of the people – since the invasion – uh, liberation.” The barman reinforced his words by spitting into the sawdust on the floor.

  “What were they after?”

  “Wouldn’t tell us, would they, lads.” Another mutter. “Anyway, what can I do for you, friend? I haven’t seen you round here before, have I?” His look, while not precisely suspicious, was definitely wary.

  “Well, it’s this way: me and my team have been working just upriver, and we’ve had pretty good fortune this trip. We’re looking at a pretty hefty bonus when we get back to Tureskow, but that’s a mite far away, and we got a hankering for a little premature celebration. The boss sent me down here to get some liquor, and I persuaded him to give me a little extra so’s you good people could toast our luck, so it’s drinks all round, Comrades.”